Overview
- Helmut Metzner and his husband were abused with homophobic slurs in Berlin’s Schustehruspark on Thursday evening, then shoved to the ground and kicked, leaving both injured, according to police and Metzner.
- Metzner, an FDP politician who leads the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld, said the confrontation began after he told a woman not to ride a cargo bike in the park and that the attacker threatened to kill his partner.
- Berlin’s state security unit at the Landeskriminalamt opened a hate-crime case for incitement to hatred, bodily harm, homophobic insult, and threats, with incitement to hatred (Volksverhetzung) covering hate speech against protected groups in Germany.
- The suspect, described as a man with a dog, fled toward Schlossstraße as Metzner called police, who say they received photos of the man but have not announced an arrest.
- Metzner posted a photo of the assailant and his elbow injury on Facebook and said a neighbor’s tip let him identify a name and address, details he says he shared with investigators.